STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3187

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 111

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 111 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PREPARE CURRICULAR MATERIALS THAT REFLECT THE HAWAII STANDARDS TO ASSIST A TEACHER WHO HAS TO TEMPORARILY TEACH IN AN AREA WHERE THE TEACHER IS NOT HIGHLY QUALIFIED,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Department of Education and appropriate entities to prepare curricular materials that reflect the Hawaii standards to assist a teacher who has to temporarily teach in an area where the teacher is not highly qualified.

     Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by the Department of Education.

     Your Committee finds that children are our most precious resource and providing them with a quality education is and should continue to be a priority of the State.  Recently, the State has suffered a teacher shortage that has ultimately resulted in many teachers not satisfying the requirements for being deemed highly qualified teachers under the No Child Left Behind Act.  In fact, many of these teachers are properly credentialed in one area; however, they are considered unqualified if they teach courses in a different subject area, which many are called upon to do in light of the teacher shortage issue.  This measure requests the Department of Education to prepare curricular materials that reflect the Hawaii standards to assist a teacher who has to temporarily teach in an area where the teacher is not highly qualified.  Your Committee determines that this measure will not only assist the teachers but also ensure that students will receive the appropriate learning materials.  These efforts will complement the Department of Education and the Board of Education's continued support of programs to assure that all teachers become highly qualified.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 111 and recommends its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair